NASCAR at Las Vegas results: Kurt Busch snags an upset win at his hometown track

Kurt Busch beat the odds at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday night to claim his first win of the season following a late-lap caution that shook up the running order.

“This is 20 years of agony, defeat and now today with triumph,” Busch said after his first win at his hometown track.

Matt DiBenedetto finished in second and Denny Hamlin finished in third.

The yellow flag was thrown for debris on the track with the leaders on pit road and under 40 laps left in the race. That forced a major mix-up with Busch as the only playoff driver on the lead lap. The No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing driver was shuffled to the front of the pack and DiBenedetto emerged in second place for the restart.

Both held onto that running order despite multiple cautions that followed winding down the checkered flag. Busch continuously chose the outside lane and dipped below DiBenedetto to maintain his lead through a single overtime lap. Hamlin, meanwhile, pitted late from mid-pack and raced back up into the top-three after running in the lead throughout the evening.

“Really encouraged by the way we ran,” Hamlin said. “But very disappointed that we didn’t get a win. It’s just been the way that the Playoffs have gone. Whoever stays out the longest puts themselves in a great spot to win.”

Hamlin won the first stage and finished in second in the second stage, which was won by Chase Elliott, and the No. 11 Toyota was on pace to win the race until the caution flag came out. Hamlin still bounced back from a rough Round of 16, but it was the elder Busch who clinched the win to advance to to the next round.

His brother, Kyle Busch, finished in sixth place and is in jeopardy of missing the next round based on points. Although he delivered a celebratory bump to the side of his brother’s car after the race, the defending champion called the day “dismal” for his own team. The No. 18 Toyota struggled in the second stage following a slow pit stop and damage to his crush panel that slowed him down.

“We definitely lost a lot of points in that second stage,” Busch said, adding that he expected to finish the race in fifth or sixth at that point.

Still, Busch said he was proud of his older brother for getting a “pretty big one.”

“He’s going out in high style whenever he decides he’s done,” Kyle said of Kurt.

Kurt Busch stats at Las Vegas:

• First win in 22 starts at the track on Sunday
• Prior to Sunday, his average finish at the track was 22.5
• 32 career wins in Cup Series since 2001 rookie year

NASCAR playoff drivers post-Vegas: Points standings

NASCAR race results

NASCAR 2020 playoff schedule

Round of 12

▪ 2 pm Sunday, Oct. 4: YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway

▪ 2:30 pm Sunday, Oct. 11: Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Round of 8

▪ 2:30 pm Sunday, Oct. 18: Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway

▪ 3:30 pm Sunday, Oct 25: Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

▪ 2 pm Sunday, Nov. 1: Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Championship 4

▪ 3 pm Sunday, Nov. 8: NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway

This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 10:27 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription